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California legislators have raised $56 million-plus in current session

Members of the California Legislature pulled in more than $56 million in campaign cash from January 2013 through June, state data shows.

The Legislature’s majority Democrats have raised about $43 million so far during the current two-year session. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have collected about $13 million, according to state data updated late last week to reflect campaign-finance reports covering the first six months of the year.

The average contribution was about $1,200. The biggest chunk of money, almost $17 million, came from Sacramento-based donors – including $11 million from business groups, labor unions and other interests in the Capitol-centric 95814 ZIP code.

Lawmakers’ most successful fundraising month was June 2013, when their campaign committees collectively raised more than $5.6 million. The money-raising runner-up was October 2013, when lawmakers collected almost $5 million, the data shows.

Among Democratic lawmakers, campaign committees of former Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, collected the most during the past 18 months, about $3.4 million in itemized contributions. Among Republicans, campaign committees of state Sen. Andy Vidak, R-Hanford, who won an expensive special election a year ago and faces another tough race this year, received $1.4 million through June, according to the data.

The chart below shows month-by-month fundraising during 2013 and the first six months of 2014. Note: The chart does not reflect fundraising by former lawmakers who left during the current session for Congress or other jobs.

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